Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Since this is the ever of October, i thought i would go back and rank the Halloween franchise.

1. John Carpenter's Halloween
This is on my top five favorite films of all time, hell last year i watched it four times last October. It is not just a great horror film but a great film, a film directed by my all time favorite director. The film may not have been the first slasher but it laid the foundation of what we all know the slasher sub genre to be. It didn't just have slasher acting, it had genuine good acting, it is well crafted and has one of the best scores around.

2. Halloween 2
I love this film, it picks up right where the first left off, and has one of the best kick off lines of all time, "you don't know what death is". Some say it is too post Halloween slasher esque, which is just silly, this film still predates many of the 80's slashers, sure it upped Michael's intensity but that is what slasher flicks do. Now sure the sister subplot may not be the best but atleast they don't delve oo much into the family or origins....wait a minute

3. H20
....wait a minute is right, before we get to families and origins let us look at the end of a perfect trilogy, I am a fan of this being the trilogy, i love the use of Mr. Sandman, i love the inside jokes throughout, plenty of great lines & gags for us hardcore Halloween fans.

4. Halloween 3
Yes i will put this before those others aswell, i love the plot, the vibe, and Tom Atkins. Too many seem to hate it for being Michael less but pretend it is its own film(semi ironic since i am not for this list, but shh it, tis my blog, my rules) .

5. Halloween 4
I hate the characters in this film but i love the kills.....

6. Halloween 5
......see above. I want them to die, they do, we celebrate, but fuck it i still love these two. Why? Grew up with them, and they resemble what slashers became.

7. Halloween 6
I hate the plot of this film but if i had to choose between this and 8, i would choose this.

8. Halloween 8
I no longer hate this film but much like 6, i hate the plot, but the kills are not bad.

9. Rob Zombie's Halloween
Yeah i am including the remakes, if only because this franchise has many different possible timelines anyhow so why not. As for the film, the dialogue is awful, the film feels forced and is way too mean spirited but i respect it for trying to be different. Plus it has the hottest line up of chicks in all the films for my money.

10. RZ's Halloween 2
Sigh, i hated it in theatres, borrowed a friends copy when it came out, hated it more, So now i re watched it again....ugh, this is a terrible film. Laurie became a forced character, vegeterian, Charles Manson poster, unwashed hair, haning with some hot topic bimbos but at a local coffee chain(not that there is anything wrong with these things, just felt out of place). Her constant drinking and screaming was awful too, i loathe the white horse & the surreal moments, i should like them, i like weird and surreal but here, it also feels forced, RZ doesn't do art house too well. It is different sure, but fuck, at what cost?

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Much like David O Russell's American Hustle this is a film that resembles a Scorsese film, but without as much of the Russell/Scorsese film touches. It would play well as a double bill with The Departed, Johnny Depp's Whitey Bulger at times resembles Jack Nicholson's Frank Costello, and the irsh mob aspects easily bring up parallels. He lives by a code of honor however his temper gets the best of his quite often and he takes out folks without a second thought and will screw over his peers like they are nothing, he is a mob boss that is not afraid to get his hands dirty. The whole entire cast is great, especially Joel Edgerton, plus it was great to see Adam Scott in a different genre than we are used to. Some bit parts like Peter Sarsgaard serve their purpose, others like Juno Temple make you wonder if the casting was done as bait & switch to make you think they would have a bigger part before they meet their fate. It is a great crime film and Scott Cooper keeps getting better & better, Crazy Heart was solid but an actors film, Into the Furnace was also an actors film but he improved his technique, this is obviously an actors film aswell but he has upped his game greatly.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

This is easily Joe Dante's best film in years, much more in tone with his films of the 80s, funny and gory. It is basicaly a nerds dream and nightmare all in one, you are boning a hot chick but she is an organic food, clean living uber heavy handed bitch. You try to dump her but ahe dies, even though you should be with the hot ice cream girl that knows about monster cereal. Well you get sad andget over it by going to a double bill, and there you run into the hot cool girl. How many of us would love to leave a midnight movie and meet a cool chick? All of us. This film celebrates what makes us, us.....film and Joe Dante is all over that. Those that know his work or know about the man know he is a cinephile through and through, and this film celebrates b movies all the way.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

So the first Maze Runner was your basic run of the mill young adult fiction adaptation, Hunger Games light if you will. The follow up was 10 times better, i was not expecting what i got. The first was rather kiddish, this had a more adult vibe, in both action and dialogue. The thing i did not expect was the huge zombie scene, yes a zombie scene, a rather well done zombie chase scene. That plua a Mad Max(light) vibe made this a film to enjoy.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Film is overrun by zombies these days, ever since Zombieland everyone makes them, then Walking Dead made it a cash cow, there have been a few awesome ones, The Battery, the Dead, Detention of the Dead, but most are so so. Maggie is a film that I think most would have written off if not for Arnold Schwarzenegger being in it. Arnold in a zombie film? This must be a gore filled pop corn flick then eh? Nope, it is in fact pretty much a zombie art film(though it could have looked more artsy if that were the case), not saying it is an art film but this is a zombie film to show people that hate zombie films, it has heart & brains...no pun intended. It shows a world not quite destroyed by zombies where cash, jobs, cars, houses ect still matter. Only thing is infected folks get taken to quarantine before they cause damage and begin the zombie outbreak. I dug this film and hope more see it, but it is slower than some episodes of the Walking Dead, except here you have invested interest.

Okay now in recent years there have been a few horror films set in a haunted house, the attraction kind not the poltergeist kind, and a lot fail. This one is fucking awesome, it is tons of fun with great gore, likeable characters, great colors and an all around see it with an audience and cheer at the jokes & kills kind of flick. I went in with zero expectations but wound up having a blast, in fact I would say it might be my favorite film I have seen at a film festival this year, I love the ending too, it doesn't have a happy ending, well it does if you look at the way Dollface is portrayed(and quite hot if I do add) .

Tales of Halloween is a fun anthology horror film set around October 31st, so it is a natural fit for me to love it, but did I love it? Parts of it, like any anthology film(except Trick R Treat) the segments will be uneven. We have tales of Halloween lore, vengeful trick or treaters, aliens, slashers, mutant children, lovecraftian esque beings, Hansel & Gretel, Satan raising hell, feuding decorators and a killer Jack o Lantern. The best of all is The Night Billy Raised Hell directed by Darren Lynn Bousman. Followed by Adam Gierasch's Trick, Mike Mendez' Friday the 31st, Ryan Schifrin's The Ransom of Rusty Rex, Neil Marshal's The Bad Seed, Andrew Kasch & John Skipp's This Means War, Paul Solet's The Weak & the Wicked, Dave Parker's Sweet Tooth, Lucky McKee's Ding Dong, Axelle Carolyn's The Grim Grinning Ghost. Over all check it out, but watch Trick R Treat if you really want awesome anthology horror.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Wes Craven sadly passed away the other day so I decided to rewatch the Nightmare on Elm ST series, except the remake, sure he was only involved in a few but oh well, let us pay respect to the man that gave us The Last House on the Left.

1. A Nightmare on Elm ST
Easily the best in the series, and not a bad film like many think of the others. Freddy is a threat in this but with a dash of dark humor.

2. Freddy vs Jason
I don't care, I love this flick, it is what I wanted it to be, and when I rewatch it, I feel like I am seeing it in theatres, it was a huge event for me.

3. Freddy's Dead
I love the vibe of this one, sure it is the most comedic but the tone is what I want in a fun supernatural slasher flick.

4. Dream Warriors
Possibly the best of the sequels, this is where the kills & jokes became more noticeable, it feels more of a sequel to the first and it in turn had two films that closely followed it.

5. Freddy's Revenge
Not much to do with the others but I have fun with this homoerotic slasher.

6. New Nightmare
Not a sequel perse but a cool vibe and great concept, would be ranked higher if not for the kid.

7. Dream Master
I like the concept of this one and it really hold up, but the final act kind of drags a bit.

8. The Dream Child
I loathe the kid in this one, it looks cool, almost early Tim Burton esque in the design but fuck, is that kid annoying.

Television has changed drastically in the past 10 years, serialized series are now the norm, the art has been raised, no longer is acting on tv a dirty word, it is now golden, atleast for stations such as AMC, HBO, FX, ect....USA on the other hand has usually played it safe, sure they may have had fun shows like Psych but nothing groundbreaking or gripping, unless you count CM Punk's pipebomb....wrestling aside, fine Up All Night aside too, USA was left out of the forefront, always have. Then along came Mr. Robot, holy fuck, is this show going to be the series that tops Breaking Bad for my pick as best of all time? It very well could, this season was amazing, and a part of me wishes it was wrapped up or left open ended, and it was just a single season series, but unlike Wayward Pines where I do not want it back as it would ruin the finale, this, I can not wait for the follow up. The acting by everyone was top notch, the production was so much better than USA deserves, the show very much feels like something David Fincher would have directed, it has paranoia, greed, anarchy, computer hackers, hell a lot of it feels like the companion piece to Fight Club. The twist I may have guessed in the pilot but who cares, it was told perfectly, the characters evolved and the shocks(blood, language ect) are plenty for basic cable. I can not go into detail without revealing the spoilers of this show, but if you love American Psycho & Fight Club, check it out!

About Me

I am a filmmaker from Omaha, plan on starting production on my first feature in Spring of 2010. I am a huge film geek especially horror, i love the Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Beatles, Lost, stand up comedy and reading.